Pregnant Women Die at Higher Rates When States Restrict Abortion

State abortion restrictions put in place during the last two decades have resulted in more women dying during or after childbirth, leading to about 16 additional deaths a year across the states that became more stringent, new research finds.

The study from Columbia University Irving Medical Center found that restrictions have ratcheted up since 2005, when eight states had at least five limitations on things like how and when patients could access the procedure, and who could perform it. By 2023, a year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade’s federal protection for abortion, 27 states fell into that most restrictive category.

Pregnant women ...